I've heard a lot of doom and gloom from small-business owners lately. After all, the economy stinks. Headlines scream at us: Consumer confidence is down, unemployment is up. Housing prices are down, business closings are up.

Dear Gladys, I am a stay-at-home dad and I have a profitable medical supply home-based business. I am grateful that I can be here when my kids need me and especially when they get home from school. However, during the summer it was tough having rambunctious children running in and out all day. ...

Q: For me, the difference between a good business and a mediocre one is the "X factor." Great businesses have it and the others do not. The X factor could be anything really. It's just that these businesses do something special that sets them apart. Charles

I have always wanted to go into business for myself. I have come into some money unexpectedly, and I want to use a part of it to start my own business. I can't decide what business to go into. I have many things that interest me. How can I decide what business to start?

The U.S. jobless rate has sunk to 4.6%. Competition for accountants and other highly sought workers is white-hot. Big corporations are beefing up employee benefits. No wonder small companies are struggling to find workers: 46% of those surveyed last month said they found few or no qualified applicants.

Two labor activists who often had trouble finding union-made clothes have launched an online store that offers clothing from a handful of union suppliers. Profit is beside the point, said Eric Odier-Fink, who works full-time on the company while his wife splits her time between it and her job as a labor attorney. "The goal is to save people's jobs," Mandi Odier-Fink said.